The Wrong Ending
by Misha
Summary: Leo thinks about how things didn't turn out the way they were supposed to.


The Wrong Ending   
By Misha 

Disclaimer- These characters are the property of NBC, Aaron Sorkin, or whoever. I'm not writing this for profit in any way, shape, or form, but because I have a lot of spare time on my hands. 

Author's Notes- This is an unhappy story told from Leo's PoV, a first for me. It's set sometime during President Bartlett's second term and focuses on Sam, Josh, and Donna, but through Leo's eyes. It's just an unhappy version of the future. It's kind of strange, but... Well, that's all for now, enjoy! 

Spoilers- Everything up to "Stirred", I guess. 

Rating- PG   
--- 

This is not supposed to be happening. From the beginning we all knew how things were supposed to go. This isn't it. 

Somewhere along the way, things went horribly wrong. 

Josh and Donna were supposed to end up together. We all knew that. We saw it from the moment she walked into his office and declared herself his assistant. 

Yet, somewhere along the line, things went wrong. Even though they loved each other deeply, they didn't end up together. 

Somewhere along the line, Josh started pushing her away and she let him. Amy Gardner was just a smoke screen and everyone knew it. 

But even after that ended, Josh and Donna's relationship was still strained. 

Then, I don't know what happened. The race against Ritchie started going badly and Josh and Donna's relationship got even worse. Josh got tense and upset and he took it out on Donna. 

A month before the election, he pushed her too far. 

After an incredibly nasty fight, she came crying into my office and told me that she was quitting. That as soon as Josh had calmed down, she'd give him her letter of resignation, but that she thought she'd tell me first. 

I didn't know what to do. 

It was Donna's right to quit, but at the same time she was probably the most capable assistant we had in the West Wing. I didn't want to lose her; nor did I want her to walk out of Josh's life because I knew that if she did, it would be forever. 

So, I talked to the President, and we offered her Mrs. Landingham's old job. Honestly, once Jed was ready to hire a new secretary, Donna would have been at the top of the list anyway, if Josh hadn't depended on her so much. 

But, since she was absolutely positive that she wasn't going to continue working for Josh, this seemed to be the best solution. 

Once Josh found out, he was furious. Things just got worse between him and Donna. 

After we finally won reelection, I hoped that the wounds might heal. And on the surface they did. Josh and Donna were friendly to one another once more. 

But it was only skin deep. The deep friendship they had once shared was gone and, so, it seemed was the love that we had all known was there. 

Josh had never been willing to admit that it was there in the first place and now he had pushed it so far back, that it might as well be gone forever. As for Donna, I know that she still loved him, but she didn't want to. He had hurt her badly and she had decided that she would never let him do that again. 

Still, I kept hoping that in time things would get better. 

Then, Sam and Donna began dating. 

I could see how much that hurt Josh. Sam was his best friend and Donna was Donna. 

I have to admit, I was a little angry at Sam myself at first, but then I realised that it wasn't his fault. 

Josh was more than partially responsible for ruining whatever it was he and Donna shared. And Donna was an adult. She made the choice to go out with Sam. She had obviously decided that she wasn't going to wait around for something that looked like it would never happen. 

Still, my heart broke to see the man I love as a son in so pain, and I secretly hoped that Sam and Donna's relationship wouldn't work out. 

But it did and today they became man and wife. 

I'm happy for them, they're both wonderful people who deserve all the happiness in the world, but this is still wrong. 

This isn't the way it was supposed to be. 

I look at Josh and see the agony in his eyes. 

He knows what he lost, what he pushed his away and it's killing him. Especially since he knows that it's his own fault. 

He pushed her away and she didn't come back. 

I have a feeling that Josh will spend the rest of his life regretting that. 

As for me, I think that it's sad that it ended up like this. It wasn't supposed to, but if the White House has taught me anything, it's that things don't always work out the way they should. 

Still, weddings are happy occasions, but this one... It just doesn't feel right. This isn't the way the story was supposed to end, but there's nothing we can do now. 

All I can do is sigh and hope that somehow that Josh will recover. I hope that he finds happiness without Donna and that Donna and Sam are very happy together. 

But I still think that it's all wrong. 

The End 


End file.
